Numerical simulation of thermal fluiddynamic behaviour of heat exchangers with irregular fin profile

Compact heat exchangers allow to transfer large amount of heat within a reduced amount of space and they are widely used in several contexts, like radiators in vehicles, evaporators and condensers in air conditioners, as well as part of the cooling systems in electrical devices, and in other applications. The aim of this study is to numerically and empirically analyse a few configurations of compact exchangers charac- terized by different irregular fin architecture in order to both enhance the heat transfer process and reduce friction loss. Both heat transferred and friction loss have been calculated numerically and experimentally. As a result, several irregular fins configurations characterized by a periodic progression and interruption of the boundary layer have been discussed; nevertheless irregular fin allow to assemble high compactness level heat exchangers even if characterized by an increase in friction losses.